The impact of introducing foreign language requirements on the Spanish higher education system: The case of Córdoba University

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio R. Raigón Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Foreign Language Requirement ◽  
Language Requirement ◽  
Spanish Higher Education ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe requirement that students achieve accredited foreign language proficiency at B1 level in order to graduate from university or enrol for some postgraduate courses has prompted changes in language teaching in higher education in Spain. Given the clearly ineffective tuition received at earlier stages of their education, Spanish university students are finding it difficult to meet this new requirement. Society does not see language learning as a priority, and the aforementioned lack of effective teaching places Spaniards in a weak position with regard to language learning. Motivated by the Bologna Process, which seeks to foster the acquisition of multiple skills by students, the B1 requirement comes at the end of students’ education, regardless of what they were actually taught at primary and secondary level. This article examines the perceptions of a group of students enrolled in the master’s degree in secondary teacher training and analyses data on accreditation in general in order to draw relevant conclusions. The article focuses particularly on the options chosen by students at the University of Córdoba in order to meet the new foreign language requirement, and more specifically on the role played by the university’s language centre. Data was collected through a survey based on a validated

scholarly journals A Cross-Departmental Approach to Supporting Students with a Disability Affecting Foreign Language Acquisition

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franziska Lys ◽  
Alison May ◽  
Jeanne Ravid
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Language Education ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Foreign Language Study ◽  
Foreign Language Requirement ◽  
Language Requirement ◽  
Important Objective

Abstract In order to enhance mobility, competitiveness, and opportunities for work, the European Union lists the ability to communicate in a foreign language and to understand another culture as an important objective in their language education policy. Knowledge of a foreign language is also an important objective for many American universities, which require students to study a foreign language as a prerequisite to graduate. Students with documented disabilities affecting the learning of a foreign language or students with poor foreign language learning skills, therefore, pose a significant challenge, since a foreign language requirement may prevent such students from graduating unless universities are willing to make special arrangements such as having students graduate without fulfilling the requirement or letting them take substitution classes. The question of what to do with such students is at the heart of this article. It describes how one mid-sized private university with a two-year language proficiency requirement has approached the problem to ensure that policies are implemented fairly. Rather than pulling students out of the foreign language classroom, the university succeeded in keeping students engaged with foreign language study through advising and mentoring across departments

scholarly journals Online Foreign Language Learning in Higher Education and Its Correlates during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 781
Author(s):  
Maria-Anca Maican ◽  
Elena Cocoradă
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Foreign Language Learning ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Quantitative Results ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
Student Relationship

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the online learning of foreign languages at higher education level has represented a way to adapt to the restrictions imposed worldwide. The aim of the present article is to analyse university students’ behaviours, emotions and perceptions associated to online foreign language learning during the pandemic and their correlates by using a mixed approach. The research used the Foreign Language Enjoyment (FLE) scale and tools developed by the authors, focusing on task value, self-perceived foreign language proficiency, stressors and responses in online foreign language learning during the pandemic. Some of the results, such as the negative association between anxiety and FLE, are consistent with those revealed in studies conducted in normal times. Other results are novel, such as the protective role of retrospective enjoyment in trying times or the higher level of enjoyment with lower-achieving students. Reference is made to students’ preferences for certain online resources during the pandemic (e.g., preference for PowerPoint presentations) and to their opinions regarding the use of entirely or partially online foreign language teaching in the post-COVID period. The quantitative results are fostered by the respondents’ voices in the qualitative research. The consequences of these results are discussed with respect to the teacher-student relationship in the online environment and to the implications for sustainable online foreign language learning.

Assessing young learners’ foreign language abilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Nikolov ◽  
Veronika Timpe-Laughlin
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Language Abilities ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Foreign Language Programs ◽  
The Impact

AbstractGiven the exponential growth in the popularity of early foreign language programs, coupled with an emphasis of evidence-based instruction, assessing young learners’ (YLs) foreign language abilities has moved to center stage. This article canvasses how the field of assessing young learners of foreign languages has evolved over the past two decades. The review offers insights into how and why the field has developed, how constructs have been defined and operationalized, what language proficiency frameworks have been used, why children were assessed, what aspects of their foreign language proficiency have been assessed, who was involved in the assessment, and how the results have been used. By surveying trends in foreign language (FL) and content-based language learning programs involving children between the ages of 3 and 14, the article highlights research into assessment of and for learning, and critically discusses areas such as large-scale assessments and proficiency examinations, comparative and experimental studies, the impact of assessment, teachers’ beliefs and assessment practices, young learners’ test-taking strategies, age-appropriate tasks, alternative and technology-mediated assessment, as well as game-based assessments. The final section of the article highlights where more research is needed, thus outlining potential future directions for the field.

scholarly journals Omani Students’ Perceptive of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in Higher Education in Oman: Its Practice

Proceedings ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (21) ◽  
pp. 1333
Author(s):  
Mouza Said Al Kalbani ◽  
Josu Solabarrieta ◽  
Ahmad Bin Touq
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Teaching Approach ◽  
Clear Understanding ◽  
The Impact

This study aimed to analyze and understand learners’ attitudes towards Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in a foreign language context in higher education in Oman. In the literature review, learners’ attitudes play a strong role in determining the success of innovations in instructional practices (Savignon and Wang 2003). In addition to that, this study is considered as an evaluative study to explore teachers’ implication of CLT and the impact of this implication on students “communicative competence”, which is considered as an ultimate goal of communicative language teaching in a foreign langue context (FL). The importance of this study is due to its significance to come up with a clear understanding of Omani learners’ beliefs considering teaching and learning process. It also aims to specify the impact of CLT as an effective teaching approach in English as a foreign language (EFL) among higher education students and to specify any difficulties or challenges that might hinder CLT implementation in the Omani context. To achieve this, a quantitative study had been used to collect data from both teachers and learners. The participants of this study were 631 students (189 male and 391 female) who were enrolled in Intensive English language programs (IELP) in Foundation Institute (FI) in two Universities (210 students from public university and 421 students from private university) and those participants were from three different English proficiency levels (247 level 1, 155 level 2 and 229 level 3). The analysis revealed that students perceived classroom’s practice to be more oriented towards using strategic and grammatical competence and less towards sociolinguistic and intercultural competences. Additionally, Omani learners reported statistically significant correlation between CLT practice. The students’ gender, language proficiency and education context affected how students perceived classroom practice.

Language learning strategy use in context: the effects of self-efficacy and CLIL on language proficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-220
Author(s):  
Nils Jaekel
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Impact

AbstractLanguage learning strategies (LLS) are suggested to facilitate learning and support learner autonomy. The integration of content and language in foreign language education increases the cognitive work load. Furthermore, self-efficacy has been identified as a key predictor for strategy use and language achievement. The present study aimed to (1) investigate LLS use in content-based versus traditional foreign language environments and (2) assess the impact LLS use and self-efficacy have on language proficiency. Participants were Year 9 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and regular English as a foreign language (EFL) students (N=378) in Germany. Structural equation modelling, controlling for a range of confounding variables, showed that (1) there was no difference in LLS use between CLIL and EFL students. (2) LLS use had a negative impact while self-efficacy predicted higher language proficiency. These results suggest that students may best be supported by enhancing their self-efficacy while they should carefully choose their strategies.

scholarly journals POLYLINGUAL EDUCATION IN NON-LINGUISTIC HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

2018 ◽  
pp. 18-28
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Khomenko
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Language Training ◽  
Language Of Instruction ◽  
Structural Improvement ◽  
Methodological Principles

Background: Globalization processes directly affect the system of foreign language training in particular in non-linguistic higher education institutions and determine the need for its modernization. Such modernization requires both the theoretical and methodological substantiation of the strategic goal of foreign language training in Ukraine. We formulate this goal as formation of a polycultural professional linguistic personality, primarily, a secondary professional linguistic personality. Formation of the secondary linguistic personality is accompanied by acculturation i.e a person’s involvement in the secondary culture, its norms and traditions. Since acculturation is generally impossible without polylingualism, so raising the question of polylingualism in Ukrainian universities has become well-timed and expedient in the conditions of globalization and integration and determines the relevance of the article. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the feasibility of polylingual education in non-linguis­tic higher education institutions and outline the ways of its implementation. Results. The introduction of polylingualism provides freedom of choice since it enables such an organization of the learning process where the use of more than one foreign language for instruction will becomes possible. It will primarily promote the diversification of professionally oriented foreign language training of students that will result in provision of personalized learning, particularly in the field of foreign language training, as well as freedom to choose languages for mastering, and, therefore, a student’s autonomy, which is relevant to the whole system of our higher education. The introduction of polylingualism also prompts the introduction of a pan-European stan­dardized level of foreign language proficiency, providing future language specialists with a foreign-language com­municative competence recognized in a broad European format. The introduction of polylingual education implies the need for effective innovative methods, compulsory teaching of foreign languages by their native speakers, structural improvement of foreign language training, etc. Though polylingualism has become the matter of re­search in some contemporary studies, however the theoretical foundations and technologies of its teaching have not yet been developed in the domestic and foreign pedagogical literature. Discussion. The introduction of polylingualism into the educational process of non-linguistic higher educa­tional institutions is considered as means that will give the students freedom to choose the language of instruction; will facilitate the diversification of professionally oriented foreign language training; will form polylinguistic com­petence, updating the level approach to language learning and requiring further development of theoretical and methodological principles and relevant innovative techniques.

What the Bologna Process Means for the Russian Education System?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 38-41
Author(s):  
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Marina Saburova ◽  
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R. Galeeva
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Bologna Process ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
University Graduates ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Quality Of Higher Education ◽  
Ulyanovsk Region ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

The paper describes the results of the expert survey among the respondents of the Ulyanovsk region devoted to the problem of the impact of the Bologna system on the quality of higher education in Russia and the problem of employment of university graduates, which was held within the project "Investigation of the higher education system: harmonization of relations between the labor market and the market of educational services." The study involved representatives of government, higher education and business in the region. Different points of view on the reform of higher education in Russia are presented, an analytical conclusion, how the Bologna system is perceived by Russian society on an example of the region, is made. It should be noted, there was not the consensus among the government, business and higher education of the Ulyanovsk region whether the Bologna system carries the benefit of Russian society or not.

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